The present disclosure relates generally to rods and, more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for adjusting a joint of a connecting rod.
At least some known vehicles include a plurality of wheel assemblies coupled to a suspension system. The suspension system includes at least one connecting rod (e.g., a tie rod or a toe link) that helps to maintain a desired alignment of each respective wheel assembly during operation of the vehicle.
At least some of such rods include a pair of segments that are coupled together at a joint that is selectively adjustable. For example, some of such joints are manually adjustable using a wrench. By adjusting the joint, the length of the rod, and/or the orientation of a rod segment relative to the respective wheel assembly, can be selectively changed, which in turn changes the alignment of the wheel assembly. However, manually adjusting known joints may be difficult, and may require more than one person in order to be done properly. For example, during some adjustments, a first person may be necessary to hold at least one of the rod segments, while a second person adjusts the joint to lock the rod at a desired length and to lock the rod segment(s) at a desired orientation. As can be appreciated, such adjustments can be time consuming and laborious.